The article to read to understand how the wolf arrived at the gates of Marseille

For years, the wolf has been moving quietly through Provençal territory, until it has taken up residence in the Calanques massif on the outskirts of the Marseille agglomeration.

The wolf is getting closer, its appearances are more and more frequent, and now its trace is appearing where no one expected it: in peri-urban areas. In the Alpes de Haute-Provence, on February 13, in the town of Reillane, 30 sheep were found with their throats cut. The same day, in another village in the department, Castellet-les-Sausses, a municipal councillor, who had gone into the forest to maintain a watering canal, crossed paths with five wolves and felt threatened by one of them. Concern rose rapidly, but the investigation and then the OFB report tempered the anxieties.

However, wolves are no longer confined to the rural world. They are also talking about them at the gates of Marseille, in the Calanques National Park, where their presence was detected just two years ago. How did the wolf get there? France 3 Provence-Alpes plunges into the mouth of the animal.

• From where come the wolves present in Paca?

These wolves come from the Italo-Alpine lineage. In Italy, the wolf became a protected species in the 1970s, which allowed it to colonize border areas, including the Paca region. According to Nicolas Jean, in charge of large predators at the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), “there is no counting method by region, but we can say that there are currently a thousand in France, counted in around fifty departments and the presence of the wolf is gradually spreading over the national territory.”

For his part, Nicolas Rossignol, warden in the Calanques National Park obtained the very first photo, irrefutable proof of the presence of the wolf in Provence, on February 14, 2021. Since then, thanks to the seven photo traps which have been set place in the Calanques massif,“To date, there is one alpha pair, five cubs and one adult male,”says Nicolas Rossignol, “knowing that a Cub died mowed down by a car at the beginning of January.”

• What attracted the wolf to France?

It appeared in France 30 years ago, when regulations made it a protected species. At the same time, natural parks and reserves have developed, as many quiet spaces where game is abundant: deer, chamois, roe deer, wild boar and mouflon represent an ideal food potential for canids. “A regulatory framework, lodging and cover“, smiles Nicolas Jean, who specifies that this species, “very adaptable and very dynamic in terms of reproduction, has multiplied rapidly in the territory”.

• How does he move?

The wolf is a social species with a hierarchy. The pack is a group of individuals who live together, coexist and help each other, but only one dominant pair reproduces. This “alpha couple” guide the pack, the other wolves are submissive. When the rut period comes, at the end of winter, the young adults who want to breed will have to set off to conquer new territories.

“We don’t have radio collars so at this stage we’re working on assumptions”explains Nicolas Jean. “This dispersal of young males can be from very short distances to hundreds of kilometres. We don’t know in which directions, if they will go all the way or stop…there is no has no determinism, just places that are easier for him to cross than others.“

Nicolas Rossignol explains that the young wolf from the creeks will certainly go to Sainte-Baume, the only way out for him: “It is wedged between the sea, a natural barrier, the large agglomeration of Marseille and to the north, the plain of Huveaune, difficult to cross because very urbanized and crossed by a motorway. But not knowing the territory well, it can meet in town.”

We could see the wolf in an urban environment, it is likely that it is observed in the middle of the street. Which doesn’t mean it will be a problem.

Nicolas Rossignol, monitor of the Calanques National Park

at France 3 Paca

• Why does he approach man-made installations?

The animal, ancestor of the dog, is endowed with an extraordinary capacity for adaptation, explains Nicolas Jean, “It is the most widespread mammalian species in the world, including in extreme environments. The wolf develops strategies to survive, but it needs to drink a lot to fix the proteins it ingests, so drought drives it to get closer to water points.

What Nicolas confirms Rossignol, who was able to observe that the wolves of the creeks “come in summer to quench their thirst on the overflows of firefighters’ cisterns, water points managed by hunters or drinking troughs…”

The presence of wolves in urban areas is possible but it will necessarily be accidental, it is not their preferred environment.

Nicolas Jean, specialist in large predators

at France 3 Paca

• Should we get used to living with the presence of wolves in our beds?

“The wolf has now been part of our life, the bestiary of wildlife and the evolution of nature for only a generation, but we can confirm that it is permanently installed”, according to Nicolas Jean.

Same answer from the Calanques National Park side, “because they have found in this massif an abundance of prey and tranquility, only the drought can lead them to leave”, explains Nicolas Rossignol.

• Is it dangerous for humans?

The wolf is a very powerful dog, with 150 kg of pressure per cm² of jaw, and very agile.

In the 30 years since he returned to France, we have never seen a wolf bite or attempt to bite someone. Given its power and agility, an attack would leave traces that could not go unnoticed.

Nicolas Jean, wolf specialist.

at France 3 Paca

The fear of the wolf is linked to a lack of knowledge of the species, which carries a symbolic charge. It is true that in other centuries, wolves could be dangerous because they were hungry and enraged. “Neither angel nor demon, the wolf is no more dangerous for humans than any other wild animal, you just have to be careful”, says Nicolas Jean.

“Every year, we have hikers who are charged by a deer, kicked by a deer, hunters are seriously injured by wild boars, Hymenoptera cause 30 deaths a year, but we never talk about it .”

• How react if you come across a wolf?
  

Nicolas Jean is formal: “You have to be careful like in front of any wild animal, careful and vigilant“. Essential rules to know, according to the specialist: do not approach it, feed it or try to caress it, and above all, do not trap it. “The animal must never feel cornered, it always needs an escape, because it does not know if you have good or bad intentions, and it will try to save its own skin first. Be careful, the wolf has special behavior like all large predators, in front of a human, its first reaction is to move away quietly, then to stop and observe. It is a curious animal.”

• I haven’t read everything, can you give me a summary?

The presence of the wolf in the region is proven and it takes advantage of the natural parks and its status as a protected animal to settle. Although it is a wild species, it does not represent a direct threat to humans and it is possible, according to the specialists interviewed, that it will make sporadic appearances in urban areas in the coming years.